Basil and Cucumbers

It was time to harvest some basil. Flower buds were just starting to pop out. The bugs hadn't got around to it yet and it was looking quite nice. These images don't do it justice. So I told my wife to go ahead and take what she needed. She turns it into pesto and freezes it in ice cube trays. If I let her at it too soon, the plants won't have enough leaves for a decent harvest so they get stripped a little to bare, with no leaves for continued survival. On the other hand. if I hold off on the harvest too long, there is always a chance something bad happens to the basil: bugs, drought... something ruins it and my wife ends up with substandard leaves. 

In another week or two the basil will be back to full form with new growth and lots of leaves for another harvest.

I also clipped the first cucumber. I thought this variety (Eureka) would be a little more slender. Not too bad though. Not too many seeds. I think the cross-section below was the seediest part of the cucumber. The skin on these is suppose to be edible but it's a little tough. Overall it was crisp and flavourful. There are quite a few more on the vines, slowing growing to maturity. I might be time for a mid-season fertilizer top-up though.

Unbearable heat

A long weekend here with temperatures sitting in the mid 30's. A high of 36C today (96F) with high humidity making it feel more like 45C (113F). For Toronto, it's hot. And it's not balcony garden friendly either. It's also windy today which means late this afternoon the wind will be thrashing all my plants around causing lots of damage to delicate wilting leaves.

I keep everything well watered during hot weather but there is a danger of over-watering too. The containers are generally shaded, being on the balcony floor and out of the sun for most of the day. It's the plants themselves that get over-heated. So the roots will be cooler and have lots of moisture available, but the plant will not be able to suck moisture fast enough to stay cool and crisp. That's what causes the wilting. But seeing the plants wilt tricks nervous gardeners like me into watering them because it looks like they're thirsty. So I end up over-watering my plants which damages the roots and leads to all sorts of problems, including the plants looking like they need more water which just leads to even more over-watering.

Things are growing ok. Everything is pretty much on auto-pilot right now. Nothing big enough to need new support structures and I don't need to carry gallons of water out to the balcony every day. No major pests that I can see. One of the two radicchio plants is growing nicely but it's being crowded by the other one that isn't turning red or forming a tight head. I might need to pull the under-performer a little early to make space for the better one.

My tomatillo plants are putting out lots of flowers but no fruit yet. Too hot maybe, or too cold. Or something. Doesn't matter. Lots of time left for these plants. The box of dill and coriander I planted is coming along. It doesn't get much sun though. I need a new plant stand for this one. And my cucumbers are thriving. Lots of male flowers but I see some females getting ready to open. This heat might be too much for them though. I also agreed to let some of the basil leaves be picked. The plants will get much much bigger but we might as well enjoy some of it now before the spidermites get to it.

Off to a good start

I finally got my basil planted. I like to start it late, well past the risk of frost or a cool windy rainy night. Still lots of time for the plants in this container to get tall and bushy. I also got my cucumbers planted. That's another one I like to hold off on until the weather warms up.

I've grown celery in the past so for something different I'm growing celeriac this year. Those are the two scrawny plants in the left side of the container below. They don't look like much but they're actually growing fast. The two plants on the right are radicchio which is something I've never been able to grow right. This variety should form a small red head.

I also started a large container of dill and coriander. I'm not too sure how that will go. Hard to keep the spidermites and aphids off those. And of course, I have my tomato and tomatillos planted. I don't have much space to plant more but I have free containers and lots of potting soil so I'll likely have something else planted by the end of next week. Hard to resist that urge to plant in the spring once the weather gets nice.

The basil is getting used

For some reason the basil plants on one side of this container aren't doing well. A few have even died. But on the other side, they look great. Or at least, as good as they can given that every other night around dinner time a handful of leaves get pulled off of them. Sunlight wasn't a problem, and moisture is always consistent across the box. The problem could be with the fertilizer I mixed into the container. I was a bit sloppy with mixing it and perhaps I put too much or too little in the side where the plants are struggling. I'm not really sure and it doesn't matter. We appear to have enough basil and for now, production is keeping up with consumption.

I picked this cucumber a few days ago. It was ok. Lots of big seeds and the skin is tough. But the flesh is crisp and juicy, like a fresh field cucumber. The plants are putting out lots of female flowers now and there are a couple more cucumbers forming.

Basil and Tomatoes

I uprooted all the remaining lettuce and fino verde basil in my container on the edge of the balcony. In the free space I planted more bulls blood beats and some dill. I was at a grocery store yesterday and they had lots of fresh dill in the produce section. It smelled wonderful and made me want to grow some.

The Genovese basil is growing well, as it always does. It's growing tall and leaning towards the sun, trying to reach out around the shade cast by the nearby tomatoes and beans. But that's ok. No flowers and no aphids. Best time to start picking leaves.

My brandywine and black cherry tomato plants are starting to load up on fruit, with a few black cherry tomatoes starting to ripen. But I've run out of water soluble fertilizer. The plants are getting big and the lower leaves are starting to curl and turn yellow. They're sucking back lots of water every day. I'm going to have to splurge on some ferts.

We had a pretty big storm blow through yesterday. Lots of rain and wind. Nothing on the balcony was broken or blown over. But the pole beans are taking a real beating out there. Lots of leaves with damage. And like the tomatoes, the plants are nutrient starved. Lots of the older leaves on the lower parts of the vines have yellowed and died. But I am starting to see flowers so if I can get some nutrients into the soil, maybe the plants will live long enough to provide a small harvest.

The aphids are back

I was moving stuff around on the balcony and I put the basil up one a small bench to get it more sunlight. Once up there I had a better look at it from a different angle and there they were. Aphids. Just one plant. So I pinched off the top and tossed it. I didn't find any more on plants in that same container but in another container I found more on some fino verde basil. I don't think there is anything else in that container they like or can harm so maybe that 's where they'll stay. But I've been through this so many times in the past and I know how it ends: a complete aphid infestation. They can have the fino verde, but I won't be happy if they take over the Genovese.

Basil on the balcony

I finally got around to potting out the Genovese basil. It was starting to get a little tall and lanky in the starter tray in the kitchen. A couple more weeks and I should be able to start picking leaves.  I also planted out some small determine tomato plants and some fino verde basil. The fino verde bothers me a bit because I inspected a leave that had spots that reminded me of spider mite damage. I'll have to keep an eye on it. I have more planted outside already so not a great lose if I have to toss it.

My pole beans have reached the top of the trellis and now I just have to wait for them to fill out. It will make a nice wall of green. But the leaves seem kind of weak and some are not as green as they should be. We've had a few days of really hot weather and the leaves seem to wilt more than I think they should. They always have plenty of water so maybe I'm watering them too much. Or they aren't getting enough nutrients. Most likely both are a problem so I'll back off on the water and use some inorganic ferts and see what happens.